The excellent state of diplomatic relations between Cuba and Russia were publicly emphasized in Havana by Mikhail Kamynin, the Euro-Asian country’s ambassador here, who will end his mission shortly.
He spoke with Granma International at the Cuban Friendship Institute (ICAP) during the celebration of his country’s national day, June 12, when concerts, dance performances, and conferences on Russian culture, language, and scientific contributions are held around the world.
Kamynin emphasized that, over the last ten years, bilateral ties between the two countries continued to be consolidated, based on friendship and multi-faceted cooperation in a broad range of areas including transportation, science, biotechnology, medicine, technological transfer, and tourism.
Both nations confer special importance on their agenda for economic, commercial, and scientific-technical cooperation, with the signing of specific agreements to be implemented through 2030, mechanisms that reflect a strategic projection for the present and future of the ties established.
“The Russian Federation’s foreign policy is based on respect for international law, non-intervention in domestic affairs, the peaceful solution of conflict, and the creation of a more just system of economic and financial relations internationally,” the diplomat stated, while he described Cuba as “The island of liberty.”
Kamynin likewise emphasized that his country will continue supporting Cuba’s demands for an end to the unjust economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by the United States for more than five decades, and for the return of territory illegally occupied by the U.S. Naval base in Guantánamo.
“Russia and Cuba have taken the same position on the crisis in Syria; both are in favor of a peaceful solution, without external pressures,” the diplomat said, while insisting that cooperation between the two countries on the international scene is important to the defense of peace and international security.
He went on to comment that tasks facing President Vladirmir Putin’s administration, re-elected this past March for another six-year term, include strengthening democracy, modernizing the economy as the foundation of a technological revolution, and improving the population’s quality of life.
“The economic situation in Russia is stable and pretty good, despite sanctions imposed by the West. Thanks to preventative measures adopted by the government, including the replacement of imports (with domestic products), my country has been able to minimize the negative consequences of the international economic and financial crises,” he said.
Russia is the world’s largest country, extending over 17,045,400 square kilometers, and has a population of over 143 million inhabitants, and a consolidated economy, which have made it a world power, also respected by its adversaries for its military might.
Averaging more than 10 million barrels of oil a day in 2017, the country has become one of the world’s largest producers, and has a developed mining industry that produces diamonds, iron, nickel, silver, gold, and tin, while also possessing 22% of the planet’s timber reserves, occupying first place internationally in wooded land.
The Russian diplomat said that he plans to return regularly to Cuba as a tourist, since during the ten years he has worked here, he hasn’t had the time to enjoy the island’s beauty, and that he will always remember the Cuban people and the many sincere friendships he has established.
(Granma)